College students protest to demand degrees verification

MARDAN: Dozens of students from the Government Postgraduate College on Monday staged a protest against Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (Awkum) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) for not verifying their degrees.

The protesters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favor of their demands outside Mardan Press Club.The protesters were led by Muttahida Talaba Mahaz (MTM) chairman Abbas Khan, senior vice-president Shabir, vice-president Fazl-e-Rabi and other office-bearers. The protesters demanded the government to immediately verify their degrees. Addressing a press conference later, the speakers said that on November 17, 2016 through letter No 15 (08) A& A/ACC/HEC-2016/1327, the B.S history department of GPGC was affiliated with Awkum.

They added that students get admission on more than 40 seats in history subject. The speakers added that later the second batch was started in 2017, adding that later in 2018, Awkum rejected the affiliation of the department concerned due to the unavailability of principal seat and parent department in the university and banned the new admissions in history department.

They said that later the college administration affiliated the new batch of history department with Peshawar University while the batch of 2016 and 2017 wasn’t decided. The speakers said the Awkum administration issued them degrees but when they contacted the HEC for verification, it did not verify their degrees.

They added that they contacted the university and college administration several times but the institutions were allegedly using delaying tactics. The speakers said that they are applying for jobs, competitive exams and MPhil and PhD admissions due to the issue. They demanded the chief minister, minister for higher education and other authorities concerned to resolve their issues on a priority basis.